


About a Boy

by somewhat_angel



Series: The snake and the lion [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Daddy Issues, Draco Malfoy is a Little Shit, Enemies, F/M, First Love, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry, Hogwarts, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Love/Hate, M/M, POV Draco Malfoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-07-08 08:30:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15926687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somewhat_angel/pseuds/somewhat_angel
Summary: Draco starts his first year at Hogwarts hoping to make new friends and show he's the best wizard of his generation. But Harry Potter always ruins everything.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello... hey so this is my first Drarry fic. It's basically canon with a few things modified here and there so it can be a little Drarry lol. It's from Draco's POV only because he's such a great character and he deserves to be written more often.  
> I'm so sorry for any grammar and spelling mistakes.  
> Please read this and leave kudos and comments!! I really want to know what people think!

Draco woke up early that morning of July. He barely slept last night because today he would be getting his Hogwarts acceptance letter. He whined all the way through breakfast because, in his opinion, it was making him wait for too long. Nobody should make him wait, not even that Dumbledore, Hogwarts' headmaster. He was a Malfoy Black, heir of two of the most powerful and rich families in the Wizarding World and for that alone, he should be treated with the due respect.

  
His mother reminded him, with her unexpressive voice, that he needed to be calm. There wasn't any doubt that he would be accepted. In the whole history of the two families, it never was anyone who ended up being a Squib, but Draco couldn't help feeling a little uneasy t the possibility that he could be the first Squib in his family... He shook his head, trying to erase those thought out of his mind.

  
Finally, when he was just finishing his pumpkin juice, an owl came flying through the open window in the dining room with his letter. Draco untied the letter from the owl's skinny leg and forgot to reward it with a piece of his food for doing a good job. The owl hooted with irritation and flew out once again.

  
Draco didn't read the letter because he already knew what it said. The only important thing was that it had arrived. The eleven-year-old boy felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from him. Ignoring the greeting and congratulating message on the letter written with emerald colored ink, he took the parchment leave where it was the list of all the materials and books that he needed for his first year of classes at Hogwarts. He scanned quickly the list of books, though he already knew it. His parents had explained to him all about Hogwarts Also, he had read all the textbooks, which he would deny fervently if someone asked. His eyes stopped over the note in capital letters at the end of the list: PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK.

  
Draco rolled his eyes and snorted in exasperation. He already had a broomstick. It was good, but not the best, because his father had said that he would buy him the most recent edition of the Nimbus when he was accepted in the Slytherin Quidditch team. He would have to wait too long for that, which was totally unfair, since he was really talented at flying, and his father knew it, but the man wouldn't change his mind. Still, Draco kept spending most of his time flying around in the fields of the Malfoy Manor. Only once Draco thought of the possibility of not even being in Slytherin house when he got to Hogwarts.

  
It would be an understatement to say that Draco was excited about finally going to Hogwarts. His short life had been quite a solitary one and he wanted to have friends, others than Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, two idiots who barely knew how to talk. He only was friends with them because their parents worked together or something and they were pure-blood as well.

  
His parents had lost of friends, and they frequently invited them (or were invited) to dinner and chat about things Draco wasn't supposed to hear because he was still too young. It wasn't like his parents kept secrets from him, not that he suspected, anyway. But he guessed that they needed their own space with other adults. He still knew the topics they generally talked about in their reunions, though: pure-blood families, the inferiority of Muggles, some inept wizards, like Arthur Weasley, who was obsessed with artifacts and all things related with muggles, as if he wanted to be one of them... Draco didn't know the Weasley family personally, but from what his father said about them, it was easy to dislike them.

  
There was another topic mentioned in their parents' circle of friends. They didn't talk about it as freely as they did with the other aspects, but still, Draco could hear some things. It was the awaited return of the Dark Lord. If he was honest with himself, Draco had to admit that he felt a little frightened at the idea of someone with so much power, but his parents revered him, even after the announcement of his fall (most in the Wizarding World said he was dead, but the Malfoys still believed he was out there, recovering, and that his time would come soon. It was only a rumor, a wish because no one had really seen him in ten years, but when the Dark Lord finally came back, as Draco's parents argued in hushed voices, he would need all his followers' help. The Malfoys and other prestigious families would be there for him, and all the muggles and muggles supporters would be eliminated from the Wizarding World.

 

 

A few days later, he and his parents decided to go to the Diagon Alley to buy all the things he needed. It was a hot morning, so it wasn't easy to walk around with cloaks and robes, but the Malfoys never went out with muggle's clothing. That would be a disgrace. Besides, they didn't actually have to walk around muggles. Draco's father apparated them in London, just outside the Leaky Cauldron, a wizarding pub which was also an inn. Muggles couldn't see it because it was warded with magic. The place was ugly and dirty, but this was the only entrance to Diagon Alley so Draco had to put up with it. He followed his parents through the pub ignoring Tom, the innkeeper. The stepped in the courtyard in the back of the pub, which was as ugly as everything else. His father drew out his wand from an inner pocket of his cloak and pointed at some bricks in the wall until there was an entrance big enough for a giant to walk through it.

  
The Diagon Alley was one of the cooler places in the Wizarding World that Draco knew. There were shops of literally everything, and Gringotts, the Bank, was there too. Draco felt at home in this place. As their parents went to get the money at Gringotts (Draco hated to be around gnomes, they were disgusting), he walked around, looking for the most expensive things in each shop. Then, his father went to buy the books and Narcissa went to get the ingredients for the potions that the school had asked. She had told him to go to get his uniform robes, so now he was at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, up on a stool with Madam Malkin taking measurements of his arms.

  
A boy about his age entered the shop, clearly nervous. Draco rolled his eyes at the other boy's lost expression but smiled anyway. He had seen other boys and girls in the shops but really hadn't had the chance to talk to them.

"Hello," said Draco when the dark-haired boy was standing on the stool next to his.

  
The boy turned to look at him and Draco noticed the bright green of his eyes. He didn't comment on it, though. That would've been weird.

  
"You going to Hogwarts too?" he asked after a second. The boy nodded, studying his face as if looking for something odd on it. Draco kept talking. He liked to talk, especially about himself.

  
"I'm going to Broom Shop after I'm done with this," he said conversationally. "Do you have your own broomstick?"

  
The boy looked at him like he was wondering why he would have a broomstick. He shook his head, confused.

  
"Do you at least play Quidditch?" asked Draco. He was getting exasperated with this boy.

  
"No," the boy answered, fidgetting a little too much for Draco's liking. Madam Malkin didn't seem to mind, though, because she directed a motherly smile at him. It was a smile that Draco hadn't seen before, not even from his own mother.

  
"Do you know which house you'll be in?"

  
"House?"

  
"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be in Slytherin because all my family is from there. Can you imagine being a Hufflepuff? If I was put in in that house, I'd just leave."

  
Draco looked at the boy, who was about to say something, but then an enormous man with a beard that covered half his face appeared at the other side of the shop's window.

  
"Look at that man!" Draco exclaimed, hoping that the other boy found him as funny as he did.

  
"He's Hagrid. He works at Hogwarts," said the boy, grinning.

  
"Oh. He's a servant or something, right?"

  
"He's the ranger," the boy said, suddenly serious.

  
"Right. I've heard he's like a savage, he lives in the school grounds but he's a drunk and isn't allowed to do magic.

  
The other boy had a small frown on his lips, but he still replied. "I think he's awesome."

  
Draco looked at him like he was crazy. Was he being serious? Merlin, some people had a lot to learn about how the Wizarding World worked.

  
"Are you here with him? Where are your parents?"

  
The boy directed his eyes to the ground at his feet for a second but then he raised his chin at him.

  
"They're dead."

  
"Oh. I'm sorry." Draco waited for the other boy to say something else but he remained silent, so he kept talking. "But they were of our kind, right?"

  
"If you mean whether they were a wizard and a witch, then yes, they were." said the boy, without looking at him.

  
"That's good. I think the others shouldn't be allowed to be in our world. There are so many things they don't understand. By the way, what's your surname?

  
At that moment, Madam Malkin tells the other boy that his robes are ready and hands him the bag. He jumps off the stool and says thank you.

  
"Oh. I'll see you at Hogwarts, I guess," Draco mumbled as the boy headed out of the shop's door. Madam Malkin chose that moment to tell him that his robes were taking more time than usual to be ready because he was moving too much as she was taking the measurements. Draco rolled his eyes and argued that she just wasn't as good at her job.

  
His father took him to see the broomsticks after that but Draco wasn't in the best mood. He felt like his interaction with the other boy had been a disaster, but he didn't know what exactly had come out wrong. Surely it wasn't a big deal and when they saw each other again at Hogwarts it would be as if nothing had happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco had to be at the King's Cross station on the first morning of September. The Malfoys had to apparate outside of the Leaky Cauldron and walk until they got to the station because of course, they didn't use cars; they were for muggles, and there were only a few muggle things the Malfoys would do to not draw too much attention. Still, Draco felt a little uneasy walking among muggles, who glanced at him like he was the weirdo.

Twenty minutes before eleven, Draco found himself carrying his trunk with all his things, looking or the Platform 9 3/4. Fortunately, his parents knew exactly where to find it, or he would have looked like an idiot by staring everywhere when it was obvious he wouldn't see it because it was hidden from the muggles, like everything in the Wizarding World. 

He ran through the wall between the Platforms as if it was something he did every day. He'd had to do it for the next seven years, so he'd better get used to it. The boy closed his eyes just before crossing the wall and when he opened them again, he could see the Hogwarts Express, all majestuous in its shiny scarlet.

  
There were several families gathering around, ready to say goodbye to their children. Draco looked around and smiled. It felt so good to be finally here, surrounded by other wizards and witches, knowing that in just a few hours he would be part of the greatest school of magic in the world. He turned around and spotted his parents a few steps behind, looking arrogant as ever, and he tried to mimic their facial expressions of boredom and self-sufficiency. It wasn't hard, because he had been watching those expressions all his life.

  
At 10:55, Draco said a quick goodbye to his parents, who didn't hug him or said anything like good luck, as Draco thought other parents did with their children. Not that it really matter; they weren't like other families. They were better than other families. Draco walked towards the train, dragging his trunk with both hands. All these families crying and chatting were getting in his way and he was getting annoyed. It was hard not to hate people, even wizards and witches.

  
He didn't look for his parents once he was on the train and he was sure they weren't expecting him to do so. He saw Crabbe and Goyle standing in the middle of the hallway like two poles. He could've spotted their dumb faces kilometers away.

  
"You two," Draco called. They placed themselves behind him immediately like two guardian dogs. "Let's go, we have to find a compartment."

  
They scanned all the compartments as they walked. Some of them were actually empty, but Draco found a girl with dark, short hair, who caught his attention. She was sitting alone, already in her uniform robes and reading from the Potions textbook. Everything in her screamed Slytherin, and Draco didn't hesitate to enter the compartment.

  
"Hello, I'm Draco Malfoy," he said with an easy smile, sitting in the empty seat in across from her and ignoring Goyle's complains about not wanting to sit with a girl. The other boy could go sit with the children of the muggles, for all he cared. Draco was staying here.

  
"I'm Pansy Parkinson," the girl said after sending an annoyed glance at Crabbe and Goyle. Draco's smiled widened.

  
Draco and Pansy talk for a long time about everything, and Draco wondered why hadn't they met before. She lived in Yorkshire, while the Malfoy Manor was in Wiltshire, but that wasn't really an excuse, because they had magic. Anyway, Draco could see that she was really smart and had a dry sense of humor, which apparently was a common trait among Slytherins and she was definitely one. Draco really liked her. Crabbe and Goyle stayed in the compartment, but they didn't join their conversation, maybe because they weren't smart to get Draco's dark jokes and Pansy's sarcastic comments.

  
When the Trolley witch arrived at their compartment offering food, Malfoy bought a lot of everything just because he could. He was rich, after all. And he was really hungry. As they ate cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties, Draco and Pansy practiced some of the spells from his textbooks. Draco had been practicing in the last few days, but he hadn't achieved much. Pansy wasn't any better, but at least nothing exploded as they had heard it usually happened when children without training tried to do magic.

  
"Ugh, McGonagall again," Pansy commented as she stared boringly at the card she was holding from the chocolate frog she had taken. "I already have like ten of these."

  
"I have twenty-four," Draco said. Pansy rolled her eyes.

  
"Show-off," she said. They both laughed.

  
Draco took one of the frogs and unwrapped it.

  
"Agrippa, cool." This wizard was one of the rarest, so it was really difficult to find.

  
"Show-off," Pansy repeated as Draco gave her a smug grin. He didn't say that he already had three of this, though.

  
When he was done with the food, he went to the bathroom to change into his robes. He was excited to wear them. Crabbe and Goyle walked behind and waited outside the door because apparently, they didn't know how to be by themselves for more than two seconds.

  
Small groups gathered just outside the compartments and talked rapidly when he got out. Something seemed to have happened, but Draco didn't know what just yet.  
"Did you see him? I heard he's in the back-" a blond girl said to another girl.

  
"I haven't yet, but Amber said she did, so it must be true" answered the other girl.

  
"What are you talking about? Who's here?" Draco asked them. The girls, who were a little older than him, jumped when they heard his voice but answered in unison:  
"Harry Potter!"

  
Draco's eyes widened. Oh, right. Harry Potter, "the boy who lived", as the media called him. The baby who survived an attack from the Dark Lord. So the famous boy was going to Hogwarts as well. Of course, he was, he must be Draco's age. He wondered why he hadn't seen him yet and he decided to go looking for him. He needed to see for himself.

  
He went to the back of the train and started opening the compartment doors. He just knew the boy he was looking for wasn't there each time, until there was only one left. He opened the door and a pair of vibrant green eyes met his. Draco tried to hide his surprise as best he could. It was the boy he had met in the Madam Malkin shop.

  
Draco spotted the lightning-shaped scar on the boy's forehead and mentally slapped at himself for missing it the other day.

  
"So, everyone is saying that Harry Potter is in this compartment. It's you, isn't it?" Draco asked although he already knew the answer.

  
"Yes," replied Potter rather drily. Apparently, he was still sour from what Draco had said about Hagrid the savage. He was staring warily at Crabbe and Goyle, so Draco introduced them properly. He also introduced himself.

  
"My name is Draco Malfoy," he said.

  
The boy in front of Potter coughed but it sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

  
"Do you think my name is funny?" challenged Draco, looking straight into the boy's eyes. He paled. "I know who you are. My father says that all the Weasleys are gingers and... poor," he said, staring at the boy's old, worn robes.

  
Now, the Weasley boy was red as a tomato, but Draco was already addressing the green-eyed boy, who was glaring at him.

  
"Some families are better than others, Potter, you'll learn that soon. You don't want to be friends with the wrong ones. I can help you with that."  
He extended his hand, but the other boy ignored it.

  
"I think I know which are the wrong ones, thank you," Potter said coldly.

  
Draco then glared at him. So this boy didn't want to be his friend. Fine. Draco knew how to be an enemy, too. And this was just starting.

  
"Your parents made the same mistake years ago, for what I know. Seems like you will end up just like them."

  
Potter and the other boys raised from their seats, glowering with rage, but Draco only raised a pale eyebrow. He knew they wouldn't try anything with Crabbe and Goyle here.

  
"You don't want to fight us," Draco warned. Crabbe and Goyle stole some of the sweets the boys had bought. They were about to go, but some dirty rat appeared out of nowhere and bit Goyle's finger. He shook his hand, trying to get rid of it until it hit the window at the other side and fell to the floor. Draco rolled his eyes. Was there anything those guys did right?

  
When he stormed in his own compartment a minute later, Pansy glanced curiously at him but said nothing, which was the wise thing to do. Draco didn't want to admit that he was furious that Harry Potter had rejected him, especially because he was the same boy whom Draco could not get out of his head since he saw him in that stupid shop days ago.

  
The sky was dark when they get to the final station. It was Hagrid who would take all first graders to the castle on the other side of the lake, but Draco was too angry to be bothered by it. He sat on one of the boats with Pansy and the two bodyguards. Once everyone was ready, the boats moved by themselves over the black, shiny water.

  
Only when he could catch a glimpse of the castle in the distance, adorned with little yellow lights everywhere, he forgot everything about Harry Potter.  
He was finally at Hogwarts, he thought, holding his breath.


	3. Chapter 3

When they finally arrived at the castle, Hagrid made him walk up some stairs made of stone and knocked on a wooden door. It seemed to be directed towards some back room, not the principal room.

  
Professor McGonagall, a tall woman dressed in a green robe, opened the door and thanked Hagrid. Malfoy knew it was her because of the chocolate frogs cards. She seemed a lot more severe in person than he looked on the cards. Hagrid walked away with heavy steps and McGonagall conducted the first graders to a large entryway, almost as big as Draco's dining room.

  
When they were all gathered there, she cleared her throat to get the children's attention.

  
"Welcome to Hogwarts. In only a few minutes the Sorting Ceremony will take place in the Great Hall. You'll be selected to be part of one of Hogwarts four houses, and they will be like your family while you are here. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin and they all have different characteristics and attributes."

  
She also explained about earning points for their houses and winning the coup at the end of the year. Draco liked that part. He was sure he would win everything for his house.

  
"I recommend you to stay presentable for the ceremony that's about to start," McGonagall commented, pointedly looking at a fat boy. It was the same boy that had lost his toad in the train. Draco snorted a laugh.

  
The Professor left the room and the children were left by themselves. Draco looked around the place and noticed that most of them were really nervous. He already knew what was going to happen at the Great Hall, so he wasn't worried. Unless the Sorting Hat had been changed and... No, his mind wasn't going there. He was fine and he was going to be a Slytherin, like his parents.

  
He found himself staring at Harry Potter, several steps ahead of him, but still visible. He was trying to tame his messy hair with his hand (which seemed to be an impossible task) and murmured nervously at Weasley.

  
"That boy will cause so much trouble," Pansy whispered cryptically next to him, startling Draco. The boy arched an eyebrow at her but she was now examining her wand and said nothing. Merlin, this girl was strange.

  
At that moment, a few ghosts appeared in the space above their heads, talking to themselves. Draco watched them with curiosity, but when one of them floated past him he felt suddenly uncomfortably cold. He decided that he didn't like ghosts at all.

  
Professor McGonagall came back and the room went quiet. Everyone looked around like they were expecting the walls to disappear and reveal all their fears. Draco only wanted this to be over, he was hungry and tired. The Professor made them enter another hall, where she organized them in a long line and made them followed her. The doors opened to reveal the Great Hall, and Draco had to admit that it was larger than he had expected.

  
The excited voice of a girl explaining that the ceiling was enchanted to simulate the night sky reached him and made him roll his eyes. Ugh, she must be Muggle-born. What was she doing there anyway? She was so annoying. Everyone knows that Draco thought. Well, everyone but the children of the muggles, and Harry Potter.

  
There was a table for each Hogwarts house and the professors were sitting at a long table on the other side of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall got a stool out of nowhere and put them near the end of the hall. Everyone was silent, and Draco saw an old wizard hat placed over the stool. It was dirty and clearly patched up. Draco wrinkled his nose at the sight. He had imagined the great Sorting Hat in much better shape than this. Draco wasn't surprised when the hat starting singing. The song was about the four houses and for the duration of it, only the Headmaster Dumbledore is humming along until it ended and Professor McGonagall cleared her throat She apparated a long piece of parchment. Draco realized that she was calling their names in alphabetical order.

  
Hannah Abbott, a blond girl with braids, went first. She walked towards the stool and Professor McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on her head. It screams "Hufflepuff!" as soon as it touched her hair. She smiled and ran towards one of the tables on the right side of the Great Hall. A boy named Terry Boot was placed on Ravenclaw. The first Gryffindor was a girl named Lavender Brown. She screamed and giggled too much and Draco disliked her right away. Millicent Bulstrode was the new Slytherin. After some other students, the fat boy was called. The muggle-born was Hermione Granger, and she was sorted into Gryffindor. Neville Longbottom (it was his ridiculous name) tripped on his own feet and almost fell on his face. Draco laughed with everyone else. The poor boy was going to suffer the whole year, that was clear. And Draco was going to be one of the reasons it would happen.

  
Finally, Draco heard the Malor surname. His heart was beating fast in his chest, but his face remained as cool as a cucumber.

  
The Sorting Hat hadn't touched his head when he yelled SLYTHERIN!

  
He grinned and went to find his new housemates at the Slytherin table. Crabbe and Goyle were already there.

  
A few children later, the name of Harry Potter was called and the rumors ran across the Great Hall. Everyone wanted to see the new celebrity. Draco fumed. Why hadn't Potter accepted his friendship? They would have made the best team, but he decided to choose the muggle supporter as his friend.

  
Seconds passed. Potter had closed his eyes and seemed to be murmuring something to the hat. In the end, the hat yelled Gryffindor! and the clapping was deafening. The Weasley twins (because of course there Hogwarts was full of them) sang "we have Potter!". Draco found himself shaking his head at the thought of hoping that the other boy had been a Slytherin. It would've been ridiculous: his dead parents had been both Gryffindors, after all. The Weasley boy was also a Gryffindor, as expected. They both seemed really happy to be in that house. Blaise Zabini was the last student, and he was sorted into Slytherin. He sat across from Draco at the table.

  
Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and grabbed the Sorting Hat to put it back where it belonged. Dumbledore stood up and all pairs of eyes turned to him. He opened his mouth only to yell some random words t the students. Then, he thanked his audience and sat again.

  
"My father said that he was crazy, but I didn't believe him. Now I do," Draco said, not bothering to lower his voice. Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle laughed openly, and Pansy snorted.

  
Finally, the golden plates they had before them, were filled with all kinds of food. Draco had some roasted chicken with potatoes. It was delicious, or perhaps he was just too hungry at this point. The Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, didn't mind ruining Draco's dinner by floating next to him the whole time, with his empty eyes and his stained clothes.

  
Draco detected some movement from the corner of his eye that came from the Gryffindor table. When he turned his head, though, Potter was talking with the Weasleys. He would've sworn that the now Gryffindor boy had been looking at him. Maybe he was just laughing at him because of the company he currently had at the table.

  
When the desserts came, he chose chocolate-mint ice cream and avoided looking at the Gryffindor table. Zabini and Pansy were talking about their last vacations through Europe. Draco commented that he had been to Guatemala because his other wanted to see some exotic magical creatures. Pansy and Blaise looked at him, both equally impressed, but then Crabbe asked what was Guatemala and everything was ruined all over again.

  
When their plates were all clean, Dumbledore stood (hadn't he talked enough?) and warned them that the Forbidden Forest was forbidden indeed forbidden, that Filch the caretaker didn't allow students to do magic in the halls. He also said something about Quidditch season but first graders were never selected to play in their house teams anyway, so Draco just ignored him.

  
"One last advice," Dumbledore said, "do not cross the hall on the third floor on the right wing if you don't want to have a painful death."

  
Half the students laughed at this lasts words. Draco squinted his eyes. What would Dumbledore hide at Hogwarts? The castle was supposed to be a safe place for everyone, that was what everyone said.

  
But he didn't have much time to think about it because as the final act of the night, the headmaster started singing Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, the Hogwarts school song, as the lyrics floated through the tables so the new students could sing along. Draco didn't sing, nor did any of the Slytherins.

  
The Weasley twins were the only ones who actually sang with some sort of emotion. Draco wasn't surprised at all by this.

  
Gemma Farley, a fifth-year girl who was the prefect of Slytherin, guided them towards the Slytherin common room in the dungeons. It was a dark room which looked cozy enough with the multiple dimmed green lights and armchairs near the fireplace. Draco was so tired that he could've fallen asleep in one of those armchairs.

  
The boys' room was small and he had to share it with all the first graders, which really stunk, but he already knew how this worked. He was just used to be by himself in a room three times bigger than this one and he felt a little claustrophobic. Their luggage was already by the foot of each of the beds but Draco didn't bother changing his clothes. He fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

  
He had a weird dream where Harry Potter laughed at him because he had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The week started good enough. There were so many courses that Draco was very excited to learn, such as Transfiguration (even with Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor, who sent him annoyed looks from time to time as she explained the wand movements). Defense Against the Dark Arts, though Professor Quirrell seemed to be afraid of his own shadow.

  
Herbology was dumb. Draco hated plants and he didn't understand why they had to attend the gardens three times a week. History of Magic was boring, with Professor Binns not being even alive and all. It was like he talked to himself all the time, he never made eye contact with any of the students as he floated through the seats and his face was always sad. It was a depressing class. Charms wasn't a bad class, but Astronomy made him want to fall asleep as he tried to find the constellations on the sky with his new telescope. 

  
By Friday morning, Draco was exhausted, but Potions was the course he had been waiting for all week and it was right after breakfast. It was Professor Snape, the Head of Slytherin, the one who would be teaching it. Draco already knew Snape, because he was friends with his father and had worked together a few times, though Draco didn't know exactly what they did. They would be sharing the class with the Gryffindors, so it would be fun to be favored by the Professor in front of Harry Potter. Aso, Draco felt like he was going to excel in the course, even without Snape's help.

  
The Potions classroom was in the dungeons, near the Slytherin Common Room. It was nice to know that the rest of the students were terrified of the whole place. It was just darker and quiet that the rest of the castle, it was actually better, more... relaxing. But that was just Draco's opinion and he laughed at the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors when they reached the Potions classroom doors. Their Common Rooms were in the towers, so they weren't used to being this down in the castle.

  
Draco was going to say something witty about how scared they all looked but Snape appeared right beside them and opened the door with a slight movement of his wand. The classroom was as dark as the Slytherin Common Room, with a few tables and on the shelves, there were several glass jars with preserved animals.

  
They all accommodated themselves at the tables and Professor Snape began roll call, barely nodding at Draco's name but turning to look when he called the name Harry Potter.

  
"Our new celebrity," Snape muttered but it sounded very clear. Draco couldn't help his smirk.

  
When he finished calling the names, Snape stood from his desk and wandered through the tables as he talked. His voice was really low but as everyone was silent, it could be heard perfectly clear. As someone who had asked for permission to teach another course (that was the rumor Draco had heard in the previous days, that he wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts but Dumbledore had denied his request), he spoke very highly of Potions. He said that it was an art that not many could master. Draco thought he was right.

  
Snape suddenly turned his head towards Potter (Draco called him Harry in his head, but nobody had to know that) and Draco could hear the judgemental tone in his voice even before the man opened his mouth to speak.

  
"Potter, what would happen if I add asphodel roots dust to an absinthe infusion?"

  
Potter was petrified, staring right at Snape without saying anything. Draco knew the answer, of course, but it was Potter's chance to shine. A hand raised, and Draco saw it was that Hermione Granger. He rolled his eyes and chuckled at Pansy's annoyed expression.

  
"I don't know," Potter said calmly.

  
Snape was furious but his face remained stoic. The man had mastered his poker face over the years, evidently. Draco often wondered if he was always wearing a mask or had done some magic to avoid facial expressions. He asked two more question and Potter didn't answer any of them. Granger kept her hand raised the entire time Snape talked.

  
"Why don't you ask Hermione? She seems to know the answers," Potter said, defiant. Draco arched an eyebrow, surprised. Everyone that wasn't a Slytherin seemed to be afraid of Snape.

  
Snape huffed angrily and answered the questions himself, ignoring Granger. He also took one point from Gryffindor.

  
They started with a simple cure for boils. Draco had memorized the recipe so he hardly looked at the book to read the instructions. Snape congratulated him each time he passed by his table but he knew it wasn't only because he was a Slytherin. Just when the Professor had stopped by his side for the third time to show the rest of the class just how well he had simmered the horns, a cry was heard from one of the tables in the back. Draco turned around and saw how an awful paste of indescribable color leaked from a cauldron and Longbottom to the ground and burned the shoes of the nearest students. Longbottom, the fat Gryffindor boy, screamed in fear, touching his round face that was now covered in pustules while Snape yelled at him and fixed the disaster. The Professor then blamed Potter for what had just happened, and it didn't make any sense at all, but Draco couldn't help feeling a little smug about it.

 

 

Potions was the only course Slytherin and Gryffindor shared, and Draco wasn't sure whether that was good or not, but when they saw a pamphlet in their Common Room saying that they would be also sharing Flying class with the Gryffindors on Thursdays, Draco smiled to himself. Pansy rolled her eyes from her seat by the fire but he ignored her.

  
Thursday morning passed as the morning before that, except that Longbottom received a gift from his grandmother and Draco had to see it. And it was also an excuse to speak to Harry Potter, or laugh at him. He walked to the Gryffindor and took the Remembrall, that had already turned out red (which didn't surprise Draco). As he had expected, Potter and Weasley stood from their seats but before he could say something, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. Draco wondered, annoyed, how had she approached the table so fast.

  
"Is there a problem here?" she asked, her face severe.

  
Neville whined, "he had taken my Remembrall."

  
"I was just looking," said Draco before he got into trouble. These Gryffindors were babies. Harry glared at him but Draco only smirked and walked away.

  
When the Gryffindors came to the filed grounds just outside the castle, Draco and all the Slytherins were already there. Draco liked to talk about flying and Quidditch to anyone who would listen. He was really excited to finally be able to show his abilities with the broomstick. He was a wizard of many talents.

  
Professor Hooch was a serious woman and Draco found her yellow eyes to be a little eerie so he didn't talk much as she explained how to prepare to mount the broomsticks.

  
"Up!" he screamed, along with the other students. He smiled when the broomstick laying on the ground at his right side found his right hand immediately. He saw that Harry did it too, and it was rather fast. Draco knew that Harry had never touched a broomstick before, let alone fly on one, so he admitted to himself that he was impressed. Weasley wasn't terribly bad, but he didn't have the talent. Granger, on the other hand, was a lost cause. As always, it was Longbottom who interrupted the class by making a fool of himself and flying out without knowing anything about how to land. Could that boy be any more awkward? When he landed abruptly a few seconds later, Professor Hooch took him to the nursing room inside the castle.

  
"Did you see that? Longbottom is hopeless," Draco said as he laughed openly. A Gryffindor girl told him to shut up but he ignored her.

  
"Defending your boyfriend, Parvati?" Pansy teased the girl. "I didn't know you liked fat, crying babies."

  
Parvati opened her mouth to respond but then something caught Draco's attention. He saw the Remembrall on the ground.

  
"Look! It's that stupid thing Longbottom's granny gave him!" he told the whole class, picking the object up.

  
"Give it back, Malfoy," Potter muttered in anger. Draco smiled boyishly.

  
"I have an idea," he said, his eyes on Harry's furious face. "I'll put it on the crown of a tree. Longbottom will have to get it himself."

  
Harry yelled something but Draco had already taken off and flown directly to the nearest tree, which wasn't exactly a short one. He was sure that he would only leave the ball in there and everything would be over, at least until Longbottom noticed that he had lost his Remembrall and cried. But then, from the corner of his eye, Draco saw that Harry was right behind him, flying effortlessly on his broomstick as if he had been doing it for years. To say that Draco was impressed would be an understatement, but of course, he didn't comment on it.

  
"Leave it or I'll throw you off your broomstick," Harry threatened. Draco squinted his eyes, actually considering those words. Then, he threw the ball up and descended back to the ground.

  
Two seconds later, McGonagall was there, her face contorted with rage... or was it admiration? No way to know with that woman. She yelled at Harry, who descended as well, a panicked expression on his face. Everyone was quiet until Parvati exclaimed that it wasn't Harry's fault, but Draco's. The Slytherin boy glared at her.

  
However, McGonagall ignored her and she made Harry follow her towards the castle. It looked like he would be in a lot of trouble.

  
"Well done, Draco," said Pansy, stepping right beside him as she watched the other boy walk into the castle. Draco couldn't be sure whether she had used sarcasm or not.   
The class ended somewhat abruptly after everything that had happened, and Draco was in a sour mood.

  
By dinner time, he saw Harry eating with his friend Weasley. He seemed rather... calm like nothing bad had happened. Draco walked towards their table.

  
"Enjoying your last meal, Potter?" he asked, but he just wanted to know if the other boy was going to stay in the school.

  
"You're braver on firm ground and with your little friends," Harry commented with a grin, but Draco knew he was annoyed to see him.

  
It was just that Crabbe and Goyle didn't know what to do without him, he didn't want them to be there with him all the time! But he refused to explain this to the boy.   
"I challenge you to a duel," he demanded. So Harry Potter wasn't in trouble. But Draco still had a plan. "With just wands."

  
"He accepts," Weasley replied with confidence. "I'll be his second. Who'll be yours."

  
So both of his bodyguards were idiots, but he had to choose one anyway.

  
"Crabbe," he said. "Midnight, in the trophy room."

  
He walked away with a pleased smile on his face. He didn't know why he wanted to harm Harry, but he did. Tomorrow would be a new day, a day with no more Potter, at least at Hogwarts.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again, I changed things here a bit or Draco :)) I hope I did decently enough with the grammar and spelling lol  
> thanks for reading!

To Draco's utter surprise, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were both at Hogwarts. He saw them in the Great Hall the next morning, eating their breakfast, and they seemed to be in a good mood. But, how was that possible? Draco himself had told Filch that he had heard two students talking about sneaking into the Trophy room at midnight, and he knew that the man was really good at catching students like sirens out of the lake.

But here they were, chatting and laughing and Draco rolled his eyes as he ate his pumpkin pasties, unwilling to admit to himself that he was just a bit relieved.

The week passed by without major inconvenience. Some of the classes were boring but others Draco actually enjoyed. His favorite was definitely Potions, not only because Snape clearly favored him but because he was doing really well at it. Also, Professor Quirrell had disappointed him. The Defense Against the Dark Arts could have been his favorite course but watching Quirrell shiver every time he talked about dark magic was simply ridiculous.

Mornings were his favorite time of the day. His parents always sent him sweets and other things he needed (or just wanted) and talking to his friends at the table was nice as well. And, no matter which course he had to start the day with, the delicious breakfast was the best way to start his days.

This morning, though, a week after the incident with the broomstick in the field, Draco watched, open mouthed, how six white owls carried a long package and left it over the Gryffindor table... in front of Harry. A second later, there was a letter, brought by another owl. Harry read the letter and looked at his friend, who was smiling brightly. Draco didn't take his eyes off of them, knowing that he was being observed by Pansy.

The two Gryffindor boys ate the rest of their breakfast in a rush and ran out of the Great Hall, but Draco really wanted to know what Harry had received, or rather, he wanted to get a confirmation since he thought he knew already what it was, so he enclosed them (Crabbe and Goyle behind him as always).

"That's a broomstick," Draco said. Where had he got it from, though? Who had given it to him? The only thing Draco knew w that the boy was in real trouble this time.

"Yes, and it's not any broomstick," Weasley was the one who spoke smugly. "It's a Nimbus 2000. You have a Comet 260, right? That one is not as fast as this."

Draco wanted to laugh at that. Who was that Weasley boy to tell him that his things were cheap or not good? The boy was poor, for crying out loud!

"Don't you talk, Weasley. You could never buy half the stick," he replied with a smirk. Weasley shut his mouth at that, his ears turning bright red.

At that moment, Professor Flitwick came to them and asked them if they were arguing.

"Potter has a broomstick, Professor," explained Draco, expecting the Professor being surprised and angry at Harry for breaking the rules. But the Professor only smiled brightly at Harry.

"Oh, yes! Professor McGonagall told me about you, Mr. Potter. I wish you the best of lucks," and then he was gone.

... What? Professor McGonagall... and the best of lucks? What did that mean? Was Harry... in the Gryffindor Quidditch team? Harry and his friend Ron laughed openly and walked past Draco, towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

Draco couldn't concentrate on any of his classes. Fortunately, they didn't have Potions that day so Snape wouldn't suspect anything. His mind was wandering round everything that had happened in the last few days. From the Flying class to the fake duel and the Nimbus 2000. Everything was getting weirder by the second and Draco didn't know what to think.

By the end of the day, he had asked an older student when did the Quidditch teams had their first training sessions. Tomorrow night. Huh. Well, he would confirm for himself what he thought was going on with Harry Potter and that broomstick.

Friday night was chilly, but Draco walked to the Quidditch pitch in the dark anyway, wearing his black cloak, which was very convenient because he didn't want anyone to know where he was going. When he got there, Harry was already flying flawlessly towards the giant poles. Draco stopped just to watch him, forgetting for a second that he was supposed to be hiding or something, but then he heard a voice and quickly slid to reach the bleachers.

Oliver Wood had arrived and seemed as impressed by Harry's talent as Draco's felt, despite himself. The older Gryffindor called Harry back and congratulated him for being the new addition to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Draco felt a pang of envy but there was nothing he could do, at least for now, so he swallowed his resentment and sat down in the dark, alone. He stayed during the whole training session. Later that night, when he entered the Slytherin Common Room, his classmates asked him where had he been.

"The library," Draco lied easily. Crabbe and Goyle laughed, and Draco wondered if they knew what 'library' even meant. Blaise arched one eyebrow in disbelief and Pansy only rolled her eyes. Draco went to bed early that night.

 

 

 

It's crazy that it's been two months since Draco first got here. Hogwarts was definitely the best of places on Earth, with all the interesting classes and mysterious places inside and out of the castle. And, even if Draco hadn't thought much about it, it felt good not to have his parents watching his every move as they did in the Manor. They always pestered him with comments about how to dress (black is the synonym of elegance and distinction, they said), how to walk, how to talk, and even though Draco hadn't forgotten about it, he felt just a little more relaxed, more like himself.

That morning, he woke up with a smile on his face. It was Halloween, and Draco couldn't wait to get to the Great Hall and see what kind of spooky decorations they had put on. There were bats flying around and spiders making huge spiderwebs. Even the ghosts looked kind of festive, is that was possible. Draco still disliked ghosts but he had to admit that they were interesting beings. The smell of roasted pumpkin was phenomenal, and while he ate with enthusiasm, Draco forgot everything about Harry Potter, at least for a while. They had Flying class in the afternoon, which meant he had to see Harry and the Gryffindors. Harry and Weasley seemed relaxed and happy, but Granger looked sad and annoyed. Not that Draco cared about her, but he couldn't help but notice since she hadn't said a word. Although, Flying was definitely her worse course. She was hopeless with the broomstick, even more than Longbottom. Weasley glanced at her from time to time with a worried expression on his funny face and Draco chuckled at the sight, totally oblivious that he had been doing the exact same thing with Harry.

The four houses had dinner that evening. Everyone was happy, enjoying the special occasion. Draco was eating his crème brûlée peacefully as he listened to the content muttering around him when Professor Quirrell came in the Great Hall screaming frantically.

"Troll... in the dungeons...", the man ran scared towards Dumbledore, who stood and ordered to the prefects of each house to take the students to their respective Common Rooms. Everyone went crazy after that. The prefects tried to give orders, but nobody was really paying attention. The thing was, the Slytherin Common Room was in the dungeons, and it was actually pretty easy to separate from the group without notice. And that was exactly what happened to Draco.

One second he was between Crabbe and Goyle, and the next he was alone in a dark hallway and he heard a noise. Curiosity got the best of him and instead of going back to the group of students, he followed the noise until he got to the boys' bathroom. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a mountain moving around slowly inside the bathroom. It wasn't a mountain, it was the troll and he had noticed him.

Draco knew that he needed to run, but his feet were glued to the ground. The troll was staring at him as if he was trying to figure out what that little thing down there was.

Draco thought about every single swear word he had heard until that moment and lamented being only eleven years old instead of an experienced wizard who knew what to do. The troll had somehow come to the conclusion that he did want to hurt Draco because he was getting closer and closer and the boy felt smaller than ever.

"Hey, stay away from him!" a voice said. Draco registered that the voice belonged to Harry Potter but he didn't turn to look at him. He didn't want to move and give the troll the chance to hit him with his mace, which was being used by the monster to destroy the sinks.

"What on earth are you doing here, Potter?" asked Draco. Everyone knows that this wasn't the path towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I'm trying to save your life, you fool," grunted Harry. He picked up a faucet and threw it at the troll's head, but it hit him on the back fruitlessly.

Weasley was there too, trying to hit the troll with the broken parts of the sinks, and Draco started to do the same. He saw Harry run towards the troll.

"What are you doing!?" Draco yelled, but Harry had managed to climb up the troll's back. What was he going to do? Was he stupid? You're one to talk, Draco chastised himself internally. Harry buried his wand in the troll's nose, who cried in pain. The boy jumped off the troll's back but now the thing was angry, and it began to wobble his mace and the three boys screamed, scared. Weasley cast a levitation charm, which was indeed clever, and the mace flew out of the troll's hand and hit him on the head, knocking him out.

"Is he dead?" Draco asked after a few seconds of stunned silence.

"I don't think so," Harry answered. They looked one another and Draco saw two shiny green eyes staring back at his grey ones in something between relief, happiness and a bit of confusion. Draco was about to say something ridiculous like thank you when they heard Professor McGonagall's voice, filled with anger.

"What is going on here? Are you boys insane?"

They all froze. Draco felt the color leaving his face when he saw Snape behind McGonagall, fixing him with a cold stare. He was screwed. Quirrell was there too, but the man had decided to have another panic attack instead.

McGonagall lectured them about how dangerous and idiotic had been what they did but Draco was busy avoiding Snape's eyes that spoke more than McGonagall's word.

"I will talk to Mr. Malfoy in private," Snape muttered when McGonagall said something to him. He was furious.

Then, they part ways. McGonagall took Harry and Ron Weasley with her towards the Gryffindor Common Room and Snape ordered Draco to follow him to the Potions classroom.

"What is wrong with you, Draco?" the man snapped when the door shut behind them. The place suddenly looked darker and terrifying without other students. "Your father explicitly told you not to do stupid things and that's exactly what you do."

"I know, sir," Draco mumbled because what else he could say?

"Do you? It seems like you're forgetting which house you belong to, you are a Slytherin, not a useless Gryffindor.

Draco's face was burning in shame. Snape was right, he had been careless. His father wouldn't forgive him.

"I won't tell your father this time," Snape added, reading his mind. "Next time you do something this stupid, I'll let him know. How am I supposed to protect you when you go running after the first troll you see?"

"I-" Draco wanted to explain that that wasn't the way it happened. Not like he liked to be killed by a monster, he had only had a moment of curiosity, which had been a bad idea, of course, but still. The only professor who actually liked him now looked at him like he was a disgrace.

"I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

his Slytherin mates looked at him with curiosity when he entered the Common Room later that night.

"We thought you were dead," Blaise said and Crabbe and Goyle laughed like fools. Pansy snorted, curled up in his chair.

"Almost," Draco said, feeling oddly proud to know that he was still alive after that awful event. What he didn't say was that two Gryffindors had saved his life.


	6. Chapter 6

November came and suddenly it was freezing. Everything was calm, classes passed with no distractions and nothing really interesting had occurred since the Troll on Halloween night. Snape was his usual dry and cold but he didn't praise Draco's work as much as he did before. Admitting that Harry Potter and his friend Weasley had saved his life would have been the most humiliating thing that ever happened to him, but luckily, the Gryffindor boys barely spared him a glance when they had to share classes, which was totally fine with Draco. He didn't want to be seen with a pair of Gryffindor fools anyway. Everything was exactly as it had been. Just as it should be.

The boy tried his best to forget about the 'troll incident' in the bathrooms.

By Friday night, everyone knew that Harry Potter was the new seeker of the Gryffindor team, though Draco didn't know how could that happened since Oliver Wood had tried to keep it a secret and Harry wasn't one to brag about the things that happened to him. 

Draco was stabbing a boiled potato with his fork in the Great Hall, between Crabbe and Goyle, who were both choking on food. He wasn't hungry, he just wanted to play Quidditch. In his head, Snape had watched him fly on his broomstick and had demanded Dumbledore to put him in the Slytherin team because he was just so talented and how couldn't anyone see it? But it hadn't happened like that, and he had to accept it. 

Later that night, when they were walking towards the Slytherin Common Room, Draco saw Snape, limping. Stepping away from the group of students, he followed the Professor down the dark hall in the dungeons. It was rather easy to not be seen, everything was always dark down there. He saw him going inside the Potions classroom and closing the door behind him after looking left and right of the hall. Draco was hidden behind an armor so the man didn't see him, but he couldn't make out what had happened to him and he doubted he would tell him if he asked. 

By Saturday morning everyone was excited about the first Quidditch match of the year: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. From his seat at the Slytherin table, Draco watched as dozens of students from all the years and houses (except Slytherin, obviously) congratulating Harry and wishing him good luck. Draco rolled his eyes as he ate his eggs and bacon. He would need it, anyway, because Slytherin was better and they were going to win. 

The whole school was at the Quidditch pitch to watch the game, including Professors McGonagall and Snape, sitting on opposite ends. Flags with the colors of Gryffindor and Slytherin decorated the ´pitch. Students scream in excitement. Lions versus snakes. This would be interesting. Draco avoided thinking of how much he wanted to play. 

Gryffindor was winning in the first minutes, but then Slytherin scored ten points and now they were even. Lee Jordan, a third-year Gryffindor, and friend of the Weasley twins, was the Commentator, and he showed obvious preference towards his House's team, which generated continuous scoldings from Professor McGonagall. 

The match was intense, but nothing really extraordinary happened for a long time. Slytherins and Gryffindors were rooting for their respective teams. Draco, who had been watching Harry closely (except for those seconds in which he literally disappeared as he flew after the Golden Snitch), was taken aback by his weird behavior, or rather, the weird behavior of his broomstick. 

What on Earth was going on? Was it being cursed? Draco looked everywhere, but no one seemed to notice what was happening with Harry, until nearly a minute later, when someone screamed and pointed at Harry, who was hanging with just one hand from his broomstick. Draco was no expert, but that definitely looked like a curse. Apparently, the broomstick wanted to get rid of Harry by letting him fall to the ground. Wasn't anyone going to do something about it? 

Instinctively, Draco turned to look at Snape, who, to the boy's confusion, was muttering while he stared directly at Harry without blinking. At that moment, Draco felt scared. Was the Professor doing what Draco thought he was doing? But why? Harry Potter could be the most annoying boy in all Hogwarts, but that wasn't enough for anyone to want to kill him. Draco's heart clenched in fear while everyone around him screamed and ran in all directions, not knowing what to do. 

Several seconds passed until Harry's broomstick floated obediently in the air and Harry could finally mount it again. Draco turned to Snape again but he was nowhere to be seen. What had happened? someone had stopped him, but then they had to know he was cursing a student. 

Two minutes later, the entire Gryffindor house was cheering and shouting in excitement. Harry Potter had caught the Snitch... in his mouth. That wasn't fair! Slytherin lost because the Gryffindor Seeker almost died. Draco was furious with Snape, and Harry and everyone in this stupid game. He stormed out to the Slytherin Common Room way before everyone else. His first year at Hogwarts definitely wasn't what he had expected.

 

 

December came and with it the festive mood. Professors gave less homework than the previous months, and even Snape didn't seem to hate on Harry as much as before, although it didn't explain why he had tried to kill him in the middle of the Quidditch match. 

Draco was still annoyed that Harry could play Quidditch. He tried to make jokes about how bad the other boy flew and all the mistakes he had made in the match, but nobody really listened to him, too amazed by Harry Potter, the youngest seeker in a long time. Draco had to discover another way to make fun of Harry, and he found himself saying things like "it's a shame that some have to stay at Hogwarts because their families don't want them at home." Ron Weasley seemed particularly offended but Harry only ignored him the best he could. 

Their last Potions class of the year had just finished when Draco found Harry and Ron talking to Hagrid the giant outside the classroom. Ron had offered to help Hagrid with the Christmas tree he was carrying. 

"Hey, Weasley, are you trying to earn some extra sickles? Are you going to be a forest ranger when you're older?"

Weasley threw himself at Draco, who wasn't expecting it and nearly tripped on his own feet. 

"Weasley!" Snape called out, his voice cold and sibilant. 

"He was provoked, Professor, it wasn't his fault," Hagrid said, and he looked as nervous as the boys.

"I don't care. Fighting is against the rules. Five points from Gryffindor." 

The man turned around and walked away, his black cloak waving behind him.

Draco smirked at the other boys' faces.  Hagrid shot him an angry stare and took them to his ugly cabin near the Forbidden Forest. Draco wondered once again why did Harry Potter want to be friends with those losers. Well, he was a Gryffindor, that might explain it. 

In the morning of December 24th, Draco was sitting with his Slytherin friends on a compartment in the Hogwarts Express in his way to London, where his father would pick him up to take him to their Manor for Christmas. Pansy was reading, Blaise was eating dozens of chocolate frogs and Crabbe and Goyle were both terrorizing some other first-year students in the next compartment. But Draco wasn't paying attention to any of them. He decided that he would just look out the window the entire trip and not think about Harry Potter. Why would he? Potter was just another boy, he was nothing special, even if everyone else seemed to think otherwise. 

So he didn't think about him at all. Not about how he wouldn't get any Christmas presents because his parents were dead and his uncle and aunt hated him, meanwhile Draco would get hundreds of presents, things he never asked but he surely would get mad if he didn't get them anyway. He didn't think about how Harry would have a friend with him the whole time and Draco would be alone in the Manor, because his father was never there or Christmas and his mother preferred to do other things, like bossing Dobby around. 

"You've been dangerously quiet," Pansy said with her cool voice, looking at him from above her book. 

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm tired, I just want to get home so I can sleep," he replied without taking his eyes off of the landscape. It had started to snow. Pansy watched him for a few seconds and then resumed her reading.  

Draco barely ate during the trip and by the time they arrived in London, he was paler than usual. His father apparated them in the Manor without major fuss. Dobby was waiting for them with warm soup and some steak and kidney pie. He ate just because it smelled wonderful; Dobby was really a good cook in spite of being just a house elf. 

After eating his food, which was what he needed, apparently. His mother joined him at the table, but only to ask him about his classes and how many friends he had made. 

"Just the right ones," said Draco, coldly. Her mother smiled at him but he was too tired to smile back, so he just excused himself and when to his room. He fell asleep instantly. Tomorrow would be Christmas, the best day of the year, after his birthday, of course. Everything was going to be just fine.

Except it wasn't as great as he had thought. Only Dobby was there with him. Draco had ordered to go away, only to call him back, because he didn't want to be alone. He made Dobby unwrap all his presents, except the ones with socks in them (he already knew which ones they were, as they always came in bright yellow wrapping paper). 

For the first time in his life, Christmas wasn't as fun as it should be.


	7. Chapter 7

Draco's parents spent the New Year Eve in the Manor with him, to the boy's surprise and delight. Dobby prepared some especially delicious dinner for that night and all three ate together. It was silent and formal, nothing too different to other diners, but Draco was alright with it.

After that, his father started talking about his job at the Ministry of Magic, where he earned a great deal of money. Draco was aware that Lucius Malfoy could be in prison right now if it wasn't for the fact that he had been under the Imperius Curse, cast by the Dark Lord (at least, that was he had said, and Draco believed him) before he was "defeated" by baby Harry Potter ten years ago, so Draco felt grateful for having at least a few minutes with him in the Holidays.  

So he wasn't friends with famous and popular Harry Potter, but he was popular too. Both Malfoy and Black family names were highly recognized among the most distinguished wizarding families in Great Britain. So he wasn't jealous of Harry Potter. And why was he thinking about that boy anyway? He had to stop doing that.

He laughed when his father bragged about something witty he had said to Arthur Weasley at work last week. Weasley also worked at the Ministry, but he had an inferior position. He worked with muggle objects of something like that. Disappointing. No wonder why the Weasley family was so poor.

Draco was in his warm bed before midnight, trying to sleep, but failing. He was still thinking about Harry Potter. The boy wasn't even that interesting, nor particularly brilliant. Draco despised him, but he also wanted to be near him. Was he going crazy? What would his father say if he told him that? And his mother? What would she think?

The new year wasn't anything exciting. The trip back to Hogwarts was rather boring, perhaps because Harry Potter was not there in the Hogwarts Express, but Draco didn't say that aloud. He bought 20 chocolate frogs and exchanged cards with Blaise Zabini and Pansy, just to pass the time. Crabbe and Goyle watched him like they both were expecting to receive an order from him at any minute, which wasn't far from what usually happened, anyway. But Draco felt like ignoring them. They would survive without him for a few hours.

The first few weeks of the year were nothing exciting. Everyone was waiting for the next Quidditch match. Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuff team hadn't very good for a long time (nothing too strange, they were bad at everything)but now, with Harry as the Gryffindor Seeker, the yellow team would be beaten mercilessly. With two won matches in a row, Gryffindor would be in the first position and that could not happen. If only Draco could play too. He would be a great Seeker. The best.

Draco was bored. Classes were good enough, but he needed something to do, everything was so monotonous.

He saw Neville Longbottom just outside the library one morning and decided to play him a joke. He had been practicing the Leg-Locker Curse, a simple curse used to bind the person's legs together. It was nothing too dangerous, and that was made it funny.

"Hey, Longbottom," Draco called, and the other boy startled visibly. Draco smirked. That Longbottom boy was so clumsy all the time, that nobody would really notice anything different. "I'm glad I found you. I needed someone to practice this Curse on. Don't worry, you won't die."

Longbottom squeaked and shut his eyes when Draco cast the spell. He cackled and walked away when Longbottom fell on his face, his legs bound together, making him lose his balance. Crabbe and Goyle had watched the whole thing, and they laughed as well with him. Draco was sure that the great Harry Potter would help him. The good, kind Harry Potter.

He hadn't seen much of Harry in the last few days. He gathered that the other boy was pretty busy with the Quidditch practices. Also, he and that Granger girl and the Weasley boy went frequently to the library, and Draco, though curious to know what they were doing, didn't want to be seen as a nerd Ravenclaw, obsessed with books and studying. He had a reputation to maintain, and that was being the best without trying too hard.

 

 

 

Finally, the day of the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match came. It was a cold morning, but it wasn't raining. The news that Professor Snape would be the referee for this match was a surprise for everyone, including Draco, considering what had happened last time. Everything was too weird for Draco to understand. Dumbledore was there, too, so the old man shouldn't know that Snape had tried to kill the favorite student, but everyone knew that Snape hated the Gryffindor house, so why had Dumbledore let him be the referee this time?

He saw a ginger head when he was looking for seats, and he knocked Weasley on the head when he walked past him. He was with Granger and Longbottom, who looked intimidated by Draco's presence.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Weasley. I didn't see you there," he said with feigned innocence. He knew Weasley was refraining himself from hitting him back, by the looks of his face. "Do you think Potter will be able to control his broom this time? He seems to be rather useless."

He knew he was just talking nonsense, but he liked to know he could ruin anyone's mood with just a few words. So he kept going after they all had found decent seats.

"Do you know why do they sorted people into Gryffindor? Because they pity them. Potter has no parents, Weasley has no money, and you, Longbottom-" he looked at Longbottom, who flinched instantly. "You have no brains."

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," Longbottom mumbled, but that only made Draco laugh. Who had told him that? Potter?

If your brain was made of gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley."

A second later, he was being pushed to the ground by a very angry Ron Weasley. This boy was a savage, he didn't even try to use magic. with a father like his, obsessed with muggles, was no surprise that his son acted like one of them. Well then, Draco could defend himself just fine. He managed to punch Weasley on the nose, making him bleed, but he would definitely get a black eye. That kid was stronger than he looked.

They both stopped when Granger's high pitched voice called for Weasley.

"Harry caught the Snitch! He caught it! After only five minutes!" she shouted as she jumped on her spot, but then she looked at them and rolled her eyes. In Draco's defense, Weasley had started it.

The two boys disentangled and the two Gryffindors ran to find Harry, who must have been drowned in an avalanche of red and gold, with all those Gryffindor celebrating their triumph. Stupid Gryffindor. Stupid Quidditch. Stupid Harry Potter.

Draco told his friends that he wanted to walk alone in the fields. At least he wouldn't meet any Gryffindors, because they were all now in the Great Hall, waiting for Harry and the rest of the team to celebrate properly, with food and jokes games.

A few meters from the Forbidden Forest, where he was supposed to stay away from, Draco saw someone walking, almost running. He quickened his pace and when he was close enough, he discovered that the person walking towards the Forbidden Forest was no other than Snape. What was he doing? And what was Draco doing? He shouldn't be here. If someone -Snape- caught him following him, he was dead.

It looked like Snape was too caught up on his own head to take notice of Draco, which was exactly what Draco needed, because he really wanted to know what was going on. Why was Snape going to the Forbidden Forest? What was he hiding and why? Was going to meet with someone?

This last question was answered when he heard a trembling, surprised voice.

"S-Sev- Severus-"

It was Professor Quirrell. Draco couldn't see him since he had managed to hide behind a tree, but the man sounded more nervous than ever. What was happening? Was Snape going to attack Quirrell?

"I- I don't- know w-why you wanted to -to meet here, Severus."

"You know this is a much private place. Students mustn't know about the Philosopher's Stone. Do you can tame Hagrid's beast now?"

The what? Was it a dark object? And what did he mean with "beast"? Was Snape doing Dark Magic? Did Draco need to feel worried? Did his father know about this? Did Dumbledore?

"B-but Sev-Severus-"

"You don't want me to be your enemy here, Quirrell," Snape pressed. So he was definitely threatening the other Professor, but Draco was too busy trying not to be seen by any of them without missing anything they were saying. Nobody could blame him, he was sure this would be interesting for more than one student.

"I- I don't know what-"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Snape growled. An owl cried in the distance and Draco jumped but fortunately, no one heard him.

"I'm still waiting," said Snape.

"But I don't-" babbled Quirrell. His voice barely a terrified whisper.

"We'll talk again after you decide where your loyalties are," Snape declared and with a quick movement, he slid through the dark trees towards the castle, leaving a pale Quirrell and a confused Draco behind.

Draco waited until Quirrell composed himself enough to leave the Forest as well; he didn't want to be caught after hearing such an awkward conversation, but when he could finally step out of his hiding place, he heard something that nearly gave him a heart attack.

"Good grief, Potter, are you trying to kill me?"

The other boy was still in his Quidditch uniform and was holding his broomstick and Draco remembered that he had just won a match and should be celebrating.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Draco asked him brusquely.

But the boy was staring at him distrust.

"You were following them, weren't you? How much did you hear?" he accused. Draco was startled for a second.

"Hey, how much did you hear?" he retorted. They both glared at each other for what seemed like a full minute.

"Look," Harry said, breaking the tensioning silence. "I don't know what's going on, but you can't tell anyone about it, okay?"

"It's not like I'm going to tell Crabbe and Goyle," Draco muttered, offended that Harry would think something like that of him, for some reason. Harry surprised him by letting out an amused snort.

"Whatever, just keep it to yourself," he said. He turned around and started walking away. Draco found himself going after him.

"You know something I don't, do you?" he asked, trying to sound accusing, but he only sounded curious.  Who else could he talk about this with, anyway?

"Not really," Harry shrugged, but he looked tense.

"And I guess you want to know everything, so you can prevent something terrible from happening and be the hero of the wizarding world one more time." It was his jealousy talking, he knew it, but he couldn't help it.

Without looking at him, Harry replied: "I would punch you in the face but I can see that Ron already did."

"Very funny, Potter," Draco grumbled, touching the skin around his eye self-consciously. He'll have to look for a healing spell later. "But you knew about this, from what I see. You knew about what Snape is doing with Quirrell, whatever it is."

"I only know it's something really dangerous, so you'd do better by staying away from it."

"Right, because only you can be the brave hero here," Draco rolled his eyes. Perhaps he just wanted to annoy the other boy.

Harry turned to face him. "If anyone discovers something about this, Snape will kill us. Or me, for all that matters. And I don't want to die in my first year at Hogwarts. Oh, but you don't have to worry about that, you're a Slytherin, Snape won't do anything to you."

"Maybe I won't have to say anything, because you're so stupid that you'll end up killing yourself without anyone's help."

And with that, Draco walked past Harry. He didn't even know why he was so pissed, but it was a recurring mood for him in the last months. And it was all Harry Potter's fault.

  



	8. Chapter 8

Draco tried to watch and follow Snape wherever he went, but it was a nearly impossible task since the man was extremely secretive and preferred to spend most of his free time locked in the Potions classroom or his Chambers. Besides, the boy believed that the Professor suspected that he was being observed, and he glared at Draco more than usual. On the other hand, Draco knew that Harry and his friends went to the library almost every day, but he didn't know whether it was for studying for the coming exams or they were looking for something else. If he didn't pass his exams, his father would kill him, so he had to concentrate on his own books.

  
"You've been acting weird," Pansy Parkinson commented in her usually cool tone, but this time she looked curious. "I mean, weirder."

  
"I'm not weird," Draco said disdainfully. They were both occupying opposite armchairs in front of the fireplace, reading from their respective notes. It was close to ten thirty on a Thursday, and the Slytherin Common Room was unusually full of students stressing about their classes.

  
"Whatever you say," Pansy giggled. She never giggled, but apparently, contradict him made her happy. He rolled his grey eyes. "But seriously, why aren't you reading your notes? What are you thinking about?"

  
Draco hadn't noticed her watching him so closely, but then again, his mind was somewhere else, in the Forbidden Forest, with Snape and Quirrell... and Harry Potter.

  
"It's nothing, I'm just tired," he mumbled, annoyed. He gathered his things and with a simple good night, he walked to his room, where Crabbe and Goyle were already fast asleep. Draco didn't know why didn't they bother to study; it's wasn't like Dumbledore would allow them to pass the year without even trying, that man was too correct to do something like that.

  
Draco fell asleep as soon as his head touched the soft pillow. He hadn't realized how exhausting was to try to uncover secrets he didn't fully understand.

  
But the secret between Snape and Quirrell wasn't the only thing happening at Hogwarts. Hagrid, the forest ranger, also went to the library, and he always came back with a handful of books, which he held to his chest like he was hiding them from indiscreet looks. Draco was aware that Harry and his friends knew what was going on with the man... giant, monster, whatever. They went to visit him after classes and they all talked in whispers every time they mentioned him.

  
One morning, during breakfast at the Great Hall, Harry's white owl, Hedwig, or something like that, entered flying through one of the windows and left a small piece of parchment over his place of bacon (not that Draco had been watching what the other boy was eating), probably from Hagrid, the only person who wrote Harry regularly, or ever. Weasley and Granger leaned their heads to read the note as well, and after seeing their cautious expressions, Draco wondered what was on that note.

  
Ten minutes later, while everyone went to their respective classes, Draco slipped through the halls to follow Harry and his friends, who had Herbology, while Draco had History of Magic with the Ravenclaws.

  
Weasley and Granger were arguing about something regarding classes. Granger was saying something like "we can't miss Herbology, that'll get us in trouble" and Weasley replied, "come on, Hermione, this could be our only chance to see a dragon being born!"

  
Wait.

  
Dragon?

  
Did Hagrid had a dragon egg?

  
"Stop. We're going after Herbology, alright? So we won't miss the class and hopefully, it'll still be an egg when we get to Hagrid's," Harry said, and then he turned around.

  
Their eyes met, and there was a second when Harry panicked, but something must have shown on Draco's face because Harry relaxed just a bit. Draco turned and ran to catch his mates before the classes started.

  
Whatever Harry had seen in Draco, he was wrong. Draco was going to tell everyone about the dragon. He would tell McGonagall, even Dumbledore, and Potter and his friends, including that horrendous Hagrid, would be in real trouble.

  
Pansy asked him where he had been, but he didn't say.

  
"Crabbe and Goyle were a little lost without you here," she joked, but Draco could see that it wasn't an exaggeration; the two boys looked puzzled and annoyed as if they didn't know what they should be doing and why. 

  
Professor Binns lectured them about the history of... something, but Draco couldn't wait or the class to be finished to go to Hagrid's hut. Or follow Harry and his friends to Hagrid's hut, to be more precise. He wasn't just going to waste the only possibility to see a baby dragon. It felt like a secret -another secret, but this was one he could keep without feeling like he was part of something horrible and threatening.

  
He wondered what would be like to be welcomed by the Gryffindors to stay and watch the birth of the dragon. He shook the thought away. It didn't matter, Harry Potter was his enemy, and he'd always be, but Draco was going to see the baby dragon whether they liked it or not.

  
So when their classes ended at mid-morning, he looked for them and saw they were walking towards Hagrid's hut. He followed them, hiding behind the walls and the trees every time they seemed to sense someone was watching them. They had the right to be cautious, it was a dragon's egg they had been hiding, after all.

  
Draco saw Hagrid opening the door and ushering Harry and the others inside and closed the door after throwing a wary glance in all directions. Draco waited a few seconds before he got closer. He could hear the excited whispers from inside the hut as Hagrid explained with his deep voice how he had acquired the egg. Where else, if not a shady pub, by s shady wizard in a dark cloak? Giants were idiots, and this one confirmed it.

  
Finally, Draco had the courage to peer through the slightly open window. He could see the egg on a table. It was one of the most incredible things Draco had ever seen, and it wasn't even born yet. He was so lucky.

  
Soon, the egg began to crack, and Draco held his breath. the dragon pushed the shell from the inside and its head and wings were freed. It squealed.

  
It was black and its skin was wrinkled, and its wings were big skinny, and it was so perfect. Draco was amazed.

  
Hagrid talked to it with a ridiculously high pitched voice and tried to pet it, but the dragon threw out a small flare, burning the giant's hand, and wasn't it the coolest thing ever?

  
Draco was so absorbed by the dragon, that he forgot he was supposed to keep quiet and let out a soft gasp of excitement. Soon enough, four heads had turned and he froze. With a fake smirk, he glanced at Harry and ran towards the castle, knowing that they were thinking he was going to tell everyone about the dragon. Sometimes, Dravo wanted to do it, but if he did that, Harry was going to be expelled from Hogwarts, and Draco wouldn't see him again. Did he really want that, when Harry Potter was the most interesting thing that had ever happened to him?

 

 

 

Days passed, and Draco was aware that the three friends were waiting for something terrible to happen, but Draco had no one to tell. He could've told Snape, but the man was evidently busier with other things. Secret, scary things, so he wouldn't listen to what he had to say. And he didn't want to look for McGonagall; the woman made his skin crawl more than Snape did. And he actually enjoyed the power he held by making them believe he was going to talk. That was what they expected, and they were terrified, Draco noticed. Weasley glared at him every time they shared a class or in the Great Hall. Granger threw nervous glances at him from time to time, s if she was expecting him to run towards the first professor he found to tell him everything. Draco didn't care much about what they thought, because he only had eyes for Harry, who always looked at him with so much hate. Yes, Harry Potter hated him, everyone knew it. But Draco could live with it, because every night at dinner, Harry glanced at the Slytherin table just to find Draco's eyes and glare at him for so long that the Slytherin boy nearly forgot how to breathe. And he preferred that. Hate was better than indifference.

In the next days, Draco learned that Weasley was in the nursing room. Apparently, the boy had told Miss Pomfrey it was a dog bite, but Draco was sure the woman hadn't believed that. Would she tell look for Dumbledore to tell him about it? Draco hoped she didn't.

  
With the excuse of borrowing a book, Draco went to see him. He laughed at him and then laughed more because Weasley was an idiot, but he also wanted to know what were the Gryffindors planning to do with the dragon. He asked bluntly, but Weasley didn't say anything; he basically went on glare and him and insult him, which wasn't a surprise.

  
"Just take the book and get out. I need to rest," Weasley snapped.

  
Draco snorted. "That's what you get for hiding a dragon in a hut," Draco replied, laughing. Weasley was really hilarious sometimes, wasn't he?

  
"That's none of your business, Malfoy," the ginger growled.

  
Draco still smirked and grabbed the book. He didn't need it, but he couldn't exactly get out of the nursing room without it.

  
With a "hope you get better from that dog bite, Weasley," he stepped out the room and walked to the Slytherin Common Room, where he could keep the book for a few days. He noticed the book was second-hand, like everything Weasley owned, including his wand. He wondered what would feel like to have something that other people had used before him, especially something as personal as a wand. It would be a nightmare. His father would never allow it. Even if Draco had ten older siblings, they could have anything they wanted, because the Malfoys were extremely wealthy.

  
When he got to the Common Room, he sat on an armchair and started reading the book, as he was bored while he waited for dinner at the Great Hall. Then he found it.

  
It was a letter, and when Draco opened it without any shame -he noticed that Weasley had already read it- he realized that now he knew what would they do with the dragon. Charlie Weasley was Ron's older brother (one of them) was going to take care of it tomorrow... at midnight. Draco observed that it was a really smart plan. And he wouldn't miss it.

  
So perhaps the Gryffindors already knew that he was aware of their plan. Who cared? Nobody would believe Draco if he talked.

  
"Where do you think you're going?" said Pansy, sitting on the armchair near the fireplace. It was eleven forty-five and he had thought she was asleep like everyone else. But she's Pansy Parkinson, of course, she's not like everyone else.

  
"Merlin! are you trying to kill me?" he exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

  
"Or are you trying to murder someone?" she replied with a giggle. "Why would you need to go out this late?"

  
"Don't ask," he mumbled. "I'm not going to murder someone if that tranquilize you."

  
"It actually disappoints me, silly," she said, standing from her chair. "Whatever you do, be careful. I don't want to hear Snape saying that a thestral ate you in the Forbidden Forest."

  
"Thestrals don't eat people," Draco said, annoyed. He was wasting time, so he left immediately.

  
He would get just in time, he was approaching the highest tower, but then a cold voice called his name and he froze.

  
It was McGonagall, and she was furious.

  
"I can explain, Professor, please-"

  
"You are grounded, Mr. Malfoy. Fifteen points from Slytherin and I'll be waiting for you in my office tomorrow after classes."

  
Draco groaned, defeated. Stupid Harry Potter. Why did he make him do stupid things?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy, I didn't update sooner as I hoped because I was working really hard on a book translation, but I have more free time now so I don't think another whole month passes before I post chapter 10 :)  
> thanks for reading... if anyone is actually reading lol

The next morning, Draco noticed something really interesting. Gryffindor had lost 150 House points. All thanks to Potter, Granger, and Longbottom. Draco smiled to himself over his breakfast. Well, they deserved it. If they hadn't wanted to show him the stupid dragon, at least they were paying for being so irresponsible and selfish. The best part was that he didn't need to do anything: everyone seemed to hate them, especially the famous Harry Potter, for making them lose the House Cup this year. Their Gryffindor mates glared at him and made hostile comments when they walked by, and even Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws ignored them or talked about them behind their backs. Slytherins, though, would thank Harry for doing them such a favor. And Draco couldn't miss the opportunity to laugh at the other boy.

"Good job, Potter, you've helped us so much," he said, and he cackled as he left the Great Hall, Crabbe and Goyle behind him, giggling like idiots.

As the exam season got closer and closer, Draco would find himself studying with Blaise and Pansy. They usually stayed in the Slytherin Common Room, because Slytherins weren't nerds, thank you very much, not like those Ravenclaws and that Granger, who should be in a muggle school by the way. but sometimes, Draco needed to borrow a few books from the library and so he would go in a rush and came back to his favorite chair in front of the fireplace. This time, though, something happened and his plans of running back were changed.

He was walking carelessly through a hall towards the library when he spotted Harry. He was hiding in a corner just outside of a classroom, like the weirdo he was.

"What are you doing, Pott-"

But Draco was being dragged by his robe's sleeve and when he was too close to Harry, the other boy only shushed him, apparently ignoring their proximity. Draco was going to protest, but one glare from Harry and a trembling voice inside the classroom shut him up.

"No, no... not again... no, please..." It was Professor Quirrell, and Draco wondered why was he surprised. Was Snape in the classroom, too? It was possible, but what they were doing? "All right, all right..." and then, Quirrell left the room, walking away without noticing them. He looked like he would pass out at any moment. The boys watched him go.

"I bet Snape was in there, too. He's threatening something," Harry whispered, more to himself than to Draco.

"Shut up, Potter, you don't even know Professor Snape," Draco snarled. He felt the need to defend the Head of his house.

Harry turned to look at him and it was like they both realized how close they were, because they stepped back. Draco blushed just a little, hoping the other boy wouldn't notice.

"Well, he's always acting really strange, so pardon me for thinking that," Harry buffed, irritated. "And why are you here anyway?"

"You pulled me! Were you trying to ruin my robes? They cost more than your entire wardrobe, you know."

Harry rolled his eyes. His green, green eyes. Stupid green eyes.

"You were making too much noise, and I was trying to listen-"

"You don't get tired of getting in trouble, do you?" Draco pointed out. "Well, everyone hates you already, so what do you have to lose, right?"

"And why do you care, anyway? It's all your fault."

  
"Of course I don't care," Draco said, but he felt his face growing hot. Why did he have to be so pale? "Just stop hearing other people's conversations, you're so nosey."   
"Says the one who followed us in the middle of the night just so he could get us in trouble!" Harry replied, staring at him with real hate.

  
"I just wanted to see the dragon!", Draco blurted. And, oh. He had made a huge mistake. He shouldn't have said anything at all. He had sounded like a 5-year-old Gryffindor and Harry Potter would laugh at him. He had to compose himself. "Whatever. I don't want to see your hideous face right now. I'm leaving."

  
And before Harry could say anything, he turned around and stormed out of the hall. why had he gotten out of his Common Room anyway? Surely, it hadn't been a good reason.

  
When he came back to the Common Room, Blaise asked for the book. Oh, the book. The book he was supposed to pick up from the library. He growled something his mother wouldn't have liked to hear from him and hid his face behind his Potions book.

  
Draco received a letter from Professor McGonagall the next morning, reminding him of his detention. He had to be in the Great Hall at eleven p.m. He looked up towards the Gryffindor table and saw with some satisfaction that  Harry and his little dork friends had received the same letter. They deserved it.

  
The classes went slow and boring, and Draco couldn't wait for this day to end. He felt tired already, and he hadn't done much. At ten-thirty that night, he left the Common Room and went to see Filch. The man gave him chills, he smelled terrible and was so ugly that he could barely look at his face, and he was so obsessed with physical punishments that Draco thought that h needed to be in Azkaban or something.

  
When the old caretaker saw him approaching the place they were supposed to meet in, he smiled maliciously, showing his yellowed teeth. He started talking about how much he missed the old days when he could beat up badly behaved children, and that wasn't creepy at all. This man was sick.

  
"If you ever touch a hair of my head, my father will know about it. You will end up in the streets," Dravo threatened. It was true. If his father knew someone had hurt Draco, he would do anything to ruin that person's life.

  
Filch glared at him, his face red from rage. But he kept his mouth shut as they both waited for the Gryffindors to arrive.

  
For a second, when Harry appeared from around the corner, he looked a little surprised to see Draco there. As if he had forgotten that he was going to be there as well. It was ridiculous, but Draco didn't like to be forgotten by Harry Potter. Whatever. At least he didn't seem to remember the stupid confession Draco made about the dragon.

Filch guided them outside. It was cold and dark, but Draco wasn't going to complain just yet. He wasn't a coward. s they walked, Hagrid's voice echoed from somewhere in the darkness. Harry's face lit up and Draco grimaced.

"Don't get too excited about going with Hagrid," Filch said. "He's taking you to the Forbidden Forest.

"The forest?" Draco repeated, starting to really get worried. "There's are all kinds of... things there. I've heard there are werewolves."

Hagrid appeared, looking surprisingly menacing in all this darkness, with his ugly dog. He also had a crossbow and a quiver with arrows.

"Harry, Hermione, how's it going?" Hagrid greeted, but before the two kids could answer, Filch reminded Hagrid why were they there. Hagrid glared at him. "You have been lecturing them? That's not your job."

"I'll be here in the morning to pick up whatever is left", Filch joked... or he didn’t?

"I won't go to that forest," Draco argued, crossing his arms. It was a ridiculous punishment, what would they do there anyway? Did Dumbledore want to kill them?

"You will if you want to stay. You've made a mistake and you have to pay or it," Hagrid replied impatiently. He looked really scary right now, Draco admitted that to himself.

"But this is not a punishment for students! I thought we were going to have to write a few lines or something. when my dad hears about this, he-"

"A few lines!" Hagrid exclaimed. "When your father hears about this, he'll say this is how punishments work at Hogwarts. If you don't like it you can get your things and go."

Draco looked at Hagrid with all the hate he felt in that moment, but it was stupid to keep arguing. He had to do it. Besides, his reputation was at stake; if he decided not to go to the forest, everyone would know and they'd laugh at him.  Stupid Gryffindors. Stupid giant. Stupid squib. Stupid Hogwarts.

Hagrid took them to the forest's limit, lighting up the with a lantern. The trees were too dark and terrorizing.

"See that shiny, silvery thing down there?" Hagrid asked. Draco and the others looked down. There was a silver liquid shining over the rocks and the leaves that before their feet. "It's unicorn blood. There is a hurt unicorn in this forest. This is the second attack to unicorns this week. We have to find it."

"But what if the one who attacked the unicorns finds us first?" Draco asked. His voice trembled just a little. It was cold.

"No one will hurt you while you stay with me or Fang," said Hagrid. We should divide us into two groups to start the search-"

"I want the dog," Draco said rapidly. He didn't trust the giant thank you very much.

"All right, but Fang is a huge coward," Hagrid replied, laughing heartily. Draco didn't say anything but he wanted to run to his bed and never come out again. This was going to be one of the worst nights ever. "So, I'll go with Hermione and Neville. Harry, you'll go with Malfoy and Fang," Hagrid declared.

"But-" the two boys started, but the giant ignored their protests.

"We'll go to the right and you two will go to the left. If anyone finds the unicorn, send green sparks. If you're in trouble, then send red sparks. Got it? All right, let's go!"

The two boys walked through the path on the left, ignoring each other as best as they could. Hagrid was right about Fang; the dog started whining and crying. What use is a dog like this if it can be an utter coward? Such a waste of time... At least he didn't have to walk through the forest with Longbottom. Or that annoying Granger. Perhaps going with Harry Potter was the best choice after all.

Something moved through the trees, and they both stilled. Fang cried even louder.

"Shhht!" Draco said to the dog.

"What was that?" Harry whispered.

"I don't know."

"What if it's a werewolf?" Harry suggested.

"It better not. I want to live."

The sound intensified, which meant that the creature -whatever it was- was getting closer and closer. Draco threw Harry a worried glance as they waited for something to happen.

"Who's there?" Harry asked loudly. Draco placed himself behind the other boy, who instinctively, and for some reason, covered him as if protecting him, his right hand gripping his wand.  But of course, Draco didn't think much of it at that moment.

A centaur emerged from behind the trees. Draco had never seen a centaur before in his life, but his father spoke of them rather badly, because, they weren't human, and that meant that they were monsters. Though in this darkness the creature seemed imposing and aggressive, Draco couldn't stop watching him. He was... interesting... beautiful? He had red hair and beard in his human part and chestnut fur and reddish tail below the waist. Draco almost wanted to touch him.

"My name is Ronan," the centaur said. His voice was deep and severe, but it didn't sound dangerous. Draco relaxed somewhat. "Who are you?"

"My name is Harry Potter," Harry said, and Draco saw that he was about to offer his hand but thought better of it. "This is Malfoy."

"Students? How are classes going?"

"Uh, they're fine?" Draco answered. This was odd. He would've never thought he was going to be making small talk with a centaur. At least he didn't look like he wanted to kill them.

"Do you know anything about an injured unicorn?" Harry asked.

Ronan looked up at the sky with melancholic eyes. He didn't anything for long seconds, but then he whispered.

"Mars is shining brighter tonight."

Well,  of course, centaurs weren't perfect in the slightest. They were crazy. They would never get out of that forest at this rate. They heard a rustling behind Ronan and Draco flinched. Another centaur, with black hair and fur, appeared from the dark.

"I am Bane," he said, looking at them with intensity.

"Have you seen an injured unicorn?" Draco asked, rather impatiently.

Bane looked up, just like the other centaur. "Mars is shining brighter tonight."

Draco sighed. Seriously? What use were centaurs? They all acted like lunatics. Draco grabbed Harry's sleeve and dragged him out of there.

"What? Do you know where to go now?" Harry snorted.

"Of course not, but I don't want to say with those freaks. And I actually want to go to bed before dawn, you know."

As they walked through the trees, they encountered more and more unicorn blood. They might be getting closer to the animal.

Soon, they saw the unicorn, laying on tree roots, dead. It was the saddest thing Draco had ever seen.

He was about to cast the green sparks when something -or someone- approached the unicorn... and begun drinking its blood.

"AAAHHHH" Draco screamed, he couldn't help himself.

The creepy creature, whatever it was, obviously heard him and turned. It looked at them and then started to get close, its black cloak moving behind it. Both boys stayed as still as they could, but when the thing was close enough, Harry gasped in pain, covering his forehead with a hand. His knees buckled and he fell on the dirt. Draco didn't know what to do.

But then something just showed up and attacked the evil thing, scaring it away.

It was another centaur, a younger, good looking one. He had blonde hair, the same color Draco's hair was, and his fur was brown. He was mesmerizing, even in the darkness. Draco stared at him for a long time, until the centaur asked something and Draco realized that he was behaving like a creep.

"I'm fine," Harry said, and so Draco deduced that the centaur had asked him if he was okay. "So, what was that?"

The centaur frowned, his beautiful features -yes, that creature was beautiful, even Draco couldn't deny that- darkened with worry and sorrow and Draco knew that it was even worse than it seemed.

  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is reading this right now, just know that I haven't abandoned this fic but it will take a while for me to finish it, I have so many things going on at the moment.   
> Anyway, thanks for reading, don't give up on this :p


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